Airbnb has unveiled the most significant development in its eight year history as it moves beyond accommodation with the launch of Trips.

Bringing together where you stay, what you do and the people you meet all in one place, Trips is a people-powered platform designed to make travel both easy and magical.

The service launches with three key areas – Experiences, Places and Homes, with Flights and Services to be added in the future.

Trips will make travel magical again by immersing travellers in communities around the world.

Get unprecedented access to local passions and interests, like violin making in Paris or marathon running in Kenya; discover the hidden gems that only locals know about via personal recommendations; and socialise with other travellers and locals at exciting events.

Add that to three million bookable homes, and Airbnb becomes the one place to go for a truly different kind of travel experience.

“Until now, Airbnb has been about homes,” said Brian Chesky, Airbnb chief executive.

“Today, Airbnb is launching Trips, bringing together where you stay, what you do, and the people you meet all in one place.

“We want to make travel magical again by putting people back at the heart of every trip.”

Experiences

Experiences are handcrafted activities designed and led by local experts – be it a single activity like a Samurai Swordplay workshop or an immersive multi-day experience like learning about and driving classic cars in Malibu.

Experiences offer unprecedented access and deep insights into communities and places that you wouldn’t otherwise come across, such as Truffle Hunting in Tuscany or the grime music scene in London.

Trips launches with around 500 Experiences in 12 cities worldwide, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Detroit, Havana, London, Paris, Florence, Nairobi, Cape Town, Tokyo and Seoul. From today, budding hosts in those and a further 39 cities worldwide can request to list their Experience.

Trips brings places to life through the people that live there, reflecting the recommendations of hundreds of thousands of Airbnb hosts, neighbourhood insiders and local influencers and is an alternative to aggregated tourist lists that funnel people to the same places.

With Insider Guidebooks, Airbnb has identified cultural experts and neighbourhood insiders to recommend the hidden gems within their city.